سلا القلب وجدي وهو للحب ما سلا

عفا الله عن قلب اضر به القلا

The heart forgot my longing, though it has not forgotten love.

May God pardon a heart that aversion has harmed.

يهيم لمن يهوى وليس براحم

له الحب حالا والولوه له حلا

It pines for the one it loves, yet receives no mercy

from love in any state; still, yearning has grown sweet to it.

ومن عجب ما مر ذكر حبيبه

على الأين الا راح بالوجد مشعلا

And wondrously, whenever its beloved is mentioned,

despite its weariness, it goes forth aflame with longing.

وما اسود ن ليل التقاطع آخر

من الوقت الاضاء بالوصل اولا

No night of estrangement ever darkened at the close

of a time without first having shone with union.

يناجي اويقات الوصال التي مضت

ويخلو بذكرى وقت قرب له خلا

It communes with the brief moments of union that have passed,

and sits alone remembering a time of nearness it once knew.

فبالله دعني يا عذول فانني ان

طوى بي غرام بعضه يملأ الملا

So, by God, leave me, reproacher, for if I

am enfolded by passion, even part of it fills the world.

احن لحب حل في القلب شخصه

فمنه لعمري محضر القلب ما خلا

I yearn for a beloved whose form has settled in my heart;

for, by my life, the heart's assembly has never been empty of him.

وركب سرى يطوي الفيافي تظنه

سحابة صيف غيمها طيلس الفلا

And a caravan traveled by night, folding up the deserts—you would think it

a summer cloud, its cloudbank the mantle of the wilderness.

تهادت به زهر النجائب ساقها

هوى قص اطراف الدروب فاعجلا

White, noble she-camels swayed along bearing it, driven

by passion, which clipped the roads' far reaches and hurried them on.

يريد خشيفا في مفازات حاجر

جفا وبأنواع الدلال تعللا

It seeks a little fawn in the wastes of Hajir,

one that turned away, finding pretexts in every manner of coyness.

فيا ايها الحادي وللركب فزعة

وليل التنائي ما امر واطولا

So, O camel-driver, with the caravan in alarm—

and the night of separation, how bitter and how long!

احن لحب حل في القلب شخصه

فمنه لعمري محضر القلب ما خلا

I yearn for a beloved whose form has settled in my heart;

for, by my life, the heart's assembly has never been empty of him.

وركب سرى يطوي الفيافي تظنه

سحابة صيف غيمها طيلس الفلا

And a caravan traveled by night, folding up the deserts—you would think it

a summer cloud, its cloudbank the mantle of the wilderness.

تهادت به زهر النجائب ساقها

هوى قص اطراف الدروب فاعجلا

White, noble she-camels swayed along bearing it, driven

by passion, which clipped the roads' far reaches and hurried them on.

يريد خشيفا في مفازات حاجر

جفا وبأنواع الدلال تعللا

It seeks a little fawn in the wastes of Hajir,

one that turned away, finding pretexts in every manner of coyness.

فيا ايها الحادي وللركب فزعة

وليل التنائي ما امر واطولا

So, O camel-driver, with the caravan in alarm—

and the night of separation, how bitter and how long!

يعينيك اسعفني بقرب غزيل

به الفكر عن محض الهيام تغزلا

By your eyes, help me draw near a little gazelle

of whom thought has sung love songs from sheer infatuation.

وهات احاديث الليالي التي مضت

لنا واتل آيات الوصال مرتلا

And bring tales of the nights that have passed

for us, and recite the verses of union in measured tones.

ليال لها غار الزمان فبدلت

فلله ما ابهى دجاها واجملا

Nights of which Time grew jealous, so they were changed—

God be praised—how splendid their darkness, and how beautiful!

فيا عجبا هل تسترد شؤُنها

اجل كم دجى باللطف حندسه انجلى

O wonder! Can their former state be restored?

Yes! Many a darkness has had its deepest gloom dispelled by grace.

ألا يا قليب اصبر فلله عادة

بتفريج هم المرء ان عظم البلا

Ah, little heart, be patient, for it is God's wont

to lift a person's grief when affliction grows severe.

وما هذه الايام الا قوافل

باربابها تمضي تقول لهم الا

And these days are nothing but caravans,

passing on with their masters, saying to them, 'Take heed!'